Phil, Christian, and Skye do a deep dive into George Packer’s recent article in the Atlantic called “How America Fractured into 4 Parts.” Packer argues that Americans no longer agree on the country’s purpose, values, history, or meaning. Is he right? And how do Packer’s 4 Americas map onto the church? Then, Skye interviews Kyle Strobel about his new book, Where Prayer Becomes Real. Obviously, the book is about prayer but it’s also about something even deeper and more foundational to our faith—honesty. It’s vital for our transformation but in short supply in many churches. Plus, scientists say the earth has a pulse. Did God design the earth to destroy life every 27.5 million years? That sets the Holy Post crew down a path into theology, the problem of evil, and why ferrets are bad pets.
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I've honestly not read the article/book, but based on your discussions I think the "Four Americas" is a HIGHLY oversimplified view of our nation.
It's entirely white-centric. It doesn't take into any account the economic, social and political experience of BIPOC ppl in America. Now if you're thinking, "well duh...white ppl are the majority, so their narrative is what has been dominating these areas in society." Well then first, THAT'S the problem. For far too long, our country has made it a habit to center white narratives and shut out minority narratives. Now that there are more Millennials and Gen Zs realizing this problem, they are being chastised as being "woke." But SECONDLY, and most importantly, it's just not true…
fascinating discussion on the "four Americas". As a parent of two teeniedie-and-almost-twentysomethings in a predominantly "smart America/woke America" area, I'm wondering you've seen anything that seems to be the left-leaning version of purity culture? The other day one of my teens (who is a deeply compassionate and sensitive kid) was agonizing over omitting a content warning on a tweet where she said she wasn't posting much on her theater stan twitter and could be found mostly on her other twitter (mostly retweets of environmental and social/economic justice tweets) or her Christian twitter. She was afraid that just *mentioning* her Christian twitter might be triggering, and the level of anxiety she had about it sounded eerily similar to what I've …
I had a lightbulb moment in the portion of the segment where cultural appropriation was mentioned along with the "new" Pride flag. I heard some things in Skye's voice that I usually don't hear (I'm assuming Skye was having an off day - we all have those) - frustration and almost anger - which I think actually apply to the idea of "four Americas." As Skye was talking about seeing the new Pride flag with black and brown (for our racial minority siblings) and blue, pink and white (for our trans siblings), there was a bit of, "This is new info, it's too much to keep track of, it's too hard, and if I get it wrong it could ruin…
I question whether it's correct to say that the Capitol insurrection was the work of "Free America." It seems to me that it's more "Real America." Oh, as for Reagan, he sometimes switched from "Free America" to "Real America," most obviously in his steel tariffs.